Friday, May 8, 2015

These haircuts were a dramatic change this time! The little one hadn't had a haircut excepting for trims. And it, admittedly, had been a while since my older son's hair has been cut.

It had been hot here so they wanted a change. I took out the clippers, and these haircuts are seriously so easy. The boys take their shirts off and stand over the sink, and I run the clippers against the hair grain and run it through until there is no more hair clipping off. You need to pay extra attention at the edges like the nape of the neck, the front, and the ears.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

In my older son's Kindergarten class, there is a stuffed bear that each student gets to take home on a rotating basis.

It was our turn... and love at first sight... for my younger son.

He toured the bear all over, and hugged it, and dragged it around, and even slept with it. This was, of course, after a stop in my fabric stash to try and make it some clothing.

My older son, on the other hand, agreed to be photographed with it and helped assemble these collages to be brought to school. He also helped dictate the photo descriptions for the class bear's journal.

My younger son, now, two weeks later, is still talking about the bear, and he is pining over when he will be in the same class and get to take the bear home again.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

I have talked about the woodworking bench we made for the kids to use before, but wanted to show it in its full context. This area is the side of our house, just outside the garage. All of the saws, drills, and other tools are stored inside the garage.

Out here, we put an old shelving unit like this one (or here is a smaller one). It used to be in the garage and was no longer needed there. But moving it outside has been perfect to allow us a space to organize wood and scraps. Plywood is on top, 2x4s have a shelf, 1x4s have a space, and so on. Wood is just grouped by type. Miscellaneous materials like clear plastic are stored behind. Latches, clasps and wheels are stored int he garage.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

We have been doing this for a long time~ me getting a short workout at home, and the kids doing their exercises. You can see my mat crosswise just below where I am standing to take the photos.

I wanted to illustrate what it looks like to have three yoga mats for us in the edges of my bedroom. I have found that giving each person their own space works great.

You see that my younger son has a tiny kettlebell (I think it's 8 lbs.) and really light dumbbells that I bought for this purpose at Target (I bought him 2 pounders when he was really little and in looking here, I see he took what used to be my older son's 5 pounders) My older son uses my smallest kettlebell and smallest weights (16 lb. kettlebell and 10 lb. hand weights).

When they were really small, the little one used to jump in the doorway jumper and my older one would do exercises.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

We chose the old velvet curtain for this project because velvet is sturdy and soft, and the color is dark and will hide some travel marks. We wanted a bag to hold the booster seats and possibly make it easier to get through the airport. If that's possible.

To make it, we stacked the two booster seats together then cut the curtain to fit around while still giving space to get the seats in and out.

I made a strap from the top of the curtain because those rings are so cool, and we can hang a name tag from there, or strap it to another bag through the holes if needed. To make the strap, I hemmed the width of the cut side (the other side still had its hem). I used a box stitch to attach it. I chose the length by trying to walk while having the full bag over a shoulder. It is shorter than I expected.

Friday, May 1, 2015

This particular pair of Lululemon Groove Pants started to wear between my legs. So I cut them just at the wear line and hemmed them up.

Viola! Fabulous Bikram Yoga shorts.

And with fabric as great as "Luon" (what is it? I don't know but it feels so nice on the skin), I couldn't let the bottom go to waste. So I checked the length against one of my son's pairs of pants and found it to be just right. I cut the center seam inwards and stitched it up.

I would usually use the waistband again for kid pants when upcycling, but, since it had already been used for my shorts, I used a bit of fabric with a piece of elastic inside to make a casing.

In making these, I left the width as it was. They are wide on him for sure, but I love the bell bottom look for the kids.